A man has painted a 30mph sign the height of a double decker bus on the side of his house in a Devon village.

Tim Backhouse, who moved to Bow two years ago, said he hoped the 15ft (4.5m) sign would slow traffic.

He said speeding traffic on the A3072 made it difficult to cross the road in order to get to the village shop.

Devon County Council said its own tests revealed most drivers kept to the limit but it was aware of residents' concerns.

"Bow has a shop 300 yds (274m) outside the village perimeter which a lot of pedestrians walk to," Mr Backhouse said.

"There's no safe crossing point, the pavement runs out near a corner and it would be just about ok if vehicles did do 30mph, but they don't.

"Since we moved to the village two years ago we've witnessed a few instances where people have almost been hit by vehicles."

He said he wanted a pedestrian crossing to be installed in the village.

The speed limit in the village is 30mph but Stuart Hussey, who also lives in Bow, said most traffic "and especially the lorries" did not keep to the limit.

"All it is a sign on a wall and if it works, great," he added.

The county council said it had built a footpath to the shop, which Mr Backhurst said residents were grateful for.

The council also said its speed checks recorded an average speed of 27.2mph in the 30mph zone.

A spokesman said: "We're aware of concerns about the speed of traffic through the village, and local police have worked with the community on enforcement issues."

Mr Backhurst said he painted the sign as part of Road Safety Week UK and would paint over it on 5 December.

Yet another case where "speed of traffic" is being confused with "volume of traffic". The council's own speed survey shows an average speed comfortably within the 30 mph limit, and I'd lay money that the perception that "most lorries" did not keep to the limit was entirely false.

_________________"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 16:34Posts: 4922Location: Somewhere between a rock and a hard place

Quote wrote:

Mr Backhouse said."There's no safe crossing point, the pavement runs out near a corner and it would be just about ok if vehicles did do 30mph, but they don't.

True or false?

Quote wrote:

Mr Backhouse said."Since we moved to the village two years ago we've witnessed a few instances where people have almost been hit by vehicles."

So maybe, just maybe, there has actually been no RTA because their speed was appropriate and they were not speeding.

Quote wrote:

Mr Backhurst said he painted the sign as part of Road Safety Week UK and would paint over it on 5 December.

With the words ‘Speed Kills’ no doubt. Move over Dok, make some room for me at the wall.

Anyone remember Lily the Pink? Speed signs are the modern medicinal compound equivalent; a panacea for all road evils. “So we erected, medicinal speed-cam, the saviour of our human race". I feel I could rewrite the lyrics in full a different way

_________________The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Why is it always people who have just moved into a village, that cause all the fuss (it's always the case in this area any way) I get the impression a lot of townies, who normally live on quiet housing estates, move the the "idylic" countryside only to find that living on a main road means, suprise, suprise, you have to put up with traffic "thundering" past your door for about 18 hours aday. Maybe people like this should have an IQ test first and be given a lecture on what to expect about living on a main road in a village, as opposed to a quiet cul de sac. We get them moaning about mud on the road , ducks and cockerel crowing too.

_________________My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

The street is undoubtedly full of speeding vehicles, making it impossible to cross from one side to the other - as you can see in this picture of the resident's home - taken in a couple of days time....!

_________________Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 16:34Posts: 4922Location: Somewhere between a rock and a hard place

You'd better hurry, the guy next to it is from Brake with a spray can

_________________The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

I have posted this comment on the RdSafetyGB site and will repeat it here : It is utterly hideous, it needs to be removed immediately. It is illegal and potentially extremely distracting.Devon County Council needs to ensure that when the public start to produce their own versions of Road Signs that it will not be tolerated. How long before others try all sorts of other tactics ?Failure to properly inform the public, about the purpose for a speed limit helps members of the public to act inappropriately. As a reminder, [url=http:www.safespeed.org.uk/speed.html]Speed Limits[/url] help to :1) firmly guide inexperienced motorists from exceeding safe limits by wild margins2) to provide a ready means of prosecution of those who use speed dangerously3) to provide a standard warning of expected hazard density

The speed limit is not a measure of safe driving.http:www.safespeed.org.uk/speed.htmlhttp:www.safespeed.org.uk/s.p.e.e.d.html

Speaking of home made road signs, I do remember seeing a speed camera site (no, not a SCP, but rather a site that featured burned out/vandalised scameras) that featured 'home-made' cameras that local people, persumably either children or those who had watched Blue Peter in their youth, had fashioned out of yellow paint, sticky back plastic and washing up bottles - some of them were brilliantly crap.

Speaking of home made road signs, I do remember seeing a speed camera site (no, not a SCP, but rather a site that featured burned out/vandalised scameras) that featured 'home-made' cameras that local people, persumably either children or those who had watched Blue Peter in their youth, had fashioned out of yellow paint, sticky back plastic and washing up bottles - some of them were brilliantly crap.

Our local County Council Highways team actually admitted to making and placing "fake" 30MPH signs in a hamlet that was on an NSL road, (to keep the hamleters happy while they campaigned for a 30mph limit) These were the same size as normal 30MPH signs but with a black circle....one rule for them and one for us, eh?

_________________My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

One rule for them, indeed. I was down my local bike shop when the local coppers came in. We got to chatting and it transpired he had been nicked on the M25 doing 130mph odd on his 'blade by other members of Her Maj's constabulary. They gave him a Section 59 (or whatever it is - intended for use against teenagers riding mini motos) which states that if he or the bike is caught again doing anything naughty the bike can be seized and crushed. I doubt if he had been a civilian he would have got off so lightly. 130 = ban or poss, as he was on a bike, prison time. Lucky he was a copper.

Our local County Council Highways team actually admitted to making and placing "fake" 30MPH signs in a hamlet that was on an NSL road, (to keep the hamleters happy while they campaigned for a 30mph limit) These were the same size as normal 30MPH signs but with a black circle....one rule for them and one for us, eh?

I am quite sure that since they have a Legal obligation to the UK Gov to provide appropriate and accurate signs that they will have contravened various Laws in doing so ? Any idea how long ago and who it was ?I am sure a few solicitors/ barristers that I know might like to take that one up !It is also distracting to motorists as who knows what that will mean ! Certainly not in the Highway code. Utterly disgraceful!

It was Shropshire Council's Highways dept under the leadership of a Miss Alice Dilly, who admitted to the misdemeanor. Someone I know pointed out to her that they were illegal and if she didn't have them removed, he would take them down himself. I can try and get email evidence of her admittance of the act, if you feel that it would go anywhere. I have an email from her saying when the signs were removed in February 2010.

_________________My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

The signs needed to establish a legally binding speed limit are proscribed by law.Somehow I do not think home-made signs are in the regulations, and they may even make the speed limit void.

_________________The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is still not completed.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

The signs needed to establish a legally binding speed limit are proscribed by law.Somehow I do not think home-made signs are in the regulations, and they may even make the speed limit void.

As this one is outside the highway boundary, is highly unlikely to be realistically confused with genuine signs, and in any case only reinforces the applicable limit, I very much doubt whether that would be the case. It might be more valid if they could reasonably be interpreted as genuine signs and contradicted the actual limit.

_________________"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

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